Skip to main content

Pan-European eCall takes a step forward

The European vehicle safety system eCall has taken another step forward with the launch in Spain of the second phase of HeERO (Harmonised eCall European Pilot). HeERO is an international project, supported by the European Union, which aims to help EU member states to prepare pilot sites for the deployment of eCall in 2015. HeERO, which started in 2011 and will conclude in 2014, aims to prepare pilot sites in many EU member states for the deployment of the eCall system in 2015. In January 2011, the nine Euro
January 15, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The European vehicle safety system eCall has taken another step forward with the launch in Spain of the second phase of HeERO (7093 Harmonised eCall European Pilot). HeERO is an international project, supported by the 1816 European Union, which aims to help EU member states to prepare pilot sites for the deployment of eCall in 2015.
 
HeERO, which started in 2011 and will conclude in 2014, aims to prepare pilot sites in many EU member states for the deployment of the eCall system in 2015.

In January 2011, the nine European countries forming the HeERO consortium embarked a three-year programme (HeERO 1) leading to the piloting and deployment of eCall.

The nine countries forming the consortium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden, were joined on 1 January 2013 by six new countries, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey, for the second phase of the project, HeERO 2.

eCall is a new road safety service based on the common European Emergency number 112. Using 112, the eCall system automatically calls emergency services if a vehicle is involved in an accident – even if the driver is unconscious or unable to respond. At the emergency call centre, the rescue services will be able to see the location of the accident and will also receive information on the kind of vehicle involved, enabling them to immediately dispatch the right rescue response.
 
The project has generated such a high level of interest that a further four associated partner countries will participate at their own cost with another five countries hoping to join in the first quarter of 2013.

“This exciting project will bring this ground-breaking technology to life. The next steps will see the engagement of 19 pilot sites working together to ready those countries for eCall”, explains project coordinator Andy Rooke, 374 Ertico – ITS Europe.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Closer cooperation between ASECAP and the GSA
    May 30, 2012
    ASECAP (the European Association of Operators of Tolled Road Infrastructures) and the European GNSS Agency (GSA) have announced they are stepping up their cooperation and will examine together the potential and the use of GNSS applications in motorway operations. The 40th ASECAP Study and Information Days, which ends today in Turin, Italy, provided an important opportunity to examine the common ground between the GSA’s support for the use of European GNSS in road transport to improve traffic management and
  • In-vehicle automation of safety compliance and other traffic violations
    January 24, 2012
    David Crawford explores new initiatives in enforcement. Achieving the EU’s new road safety target of reducing road traffic deaths by 50 per cent by 2020 depends on removing legal and institutional barriers to the deployment of new enforcement technologies, stresses Jan Malenstein. The senior ITS Adviser to Dutch National Police Agency the KLPD, and a European-level spokesperson on road and traffic safety, points to the importance of, among other requirements, an effective EUwide type approval process for fr
  • Integrating ferry transport into smart ticketing
    March 1, 2013
    Transport authorities are increasingly looking to integrate ferry travel into the mix of public transport. David Crawford finds out more. The new A$370m (US$398m) Opal public transport smartcard system being installed by the Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS)-led Pearl consortium in Sydney is geographically the largest in the world to date. The consortium includes the Commonwealth Bank of Australia; Australian retail payment system provider ePay; Australian infrastructure engineering company Downer Group; a
  • Flexible, demand-based parking charges ease parking problems
    April 10, 2012
    Innovative parking initiatives on the US Pacific Coast. David Crawford reviews. Californian cities are leading the way in trialling new solutions to their endemic parking problems. According to Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at the University of California in Los Angeles, drivers looking for available spots can cause up to 74% of traffic congestion in downtown areas. One solution is variable, demand-responsive pricing of parking.